A CRAZY Test

This is an oldie, but I laugh EVERY TIME I hear it, and hope you will enjoy it AGAIN!

A Crazy Test

Visiting the psych ward, a man asked how doctors decide to institutionalize a patient.

"Well," the director said, "we fill a bathtub, then offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient, and ask him to empty the tub."

"I get it," the visitor said. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's the biggest."

"No," the director said. "A normal person would pull the plug."

Scrap Girls meet in Portland OR...

Sally and I drove the three hours to west Portland today. Along the way Sally took a myriad of photos from the window and thru the sunroof. We saw some amazing spring green hills and fluffy clouds, and even some clouds that looked like a school of fish swimming by!

Our hostess was April Martell and she shared some of her sewing handiwork with us, including a lovely yellow and blue star quilt, and several formal dresses.

We took a few shots of our group: Vaughnde Edwards, Sally Gregson, Kay Ott (seated at end of table), designer Jacelen Deinema, April Martell. Gayle Starker and I took turns taking the pic.
After our fiesta, we picked April's brain about digital "how to" and learned so much!
It was a helpful and fun event... can't wait for another chance to meet and greet more Scrap Girls. Next meeting is scheduled for July 18 when Dr Sandi visits from St Louis!

Safe at HOME...

Grandson David ran "HOME" in his game tonight. He played so well in every position he played! The slide to home reminded me of last Sunday's sermon of the same name, complete with a Mariner jersey!

SAFE AT HOME!

The objective of baseball is to get home, and be safe- SAFE AT HOME!
That is also the objective of salvation, "To arrive safe at home in heaven."
I want you to see how you can be SAFE AT HOME when you die.
To arrive "safe at home" you must TOUCH ALL THE BASES.

1st BASE: You must acknowledge you are a sinner. (Romans 3:10-23)
2nd BASE: You must believe Jesus died for YOUR sins (Romans 5:8)
3rd BASE: You must TRUST and RECEIVE Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior (John 1:12; Acts 16:31)
HOME PLATE: The umpire's decision is FINAL! He decides who is SAFE and who is OUT.

SAFE AT HOME, AT LAST!

The road home may be hard and long,
Storms may beat across my path;
Trusting Christ I can't go wrong.
He'll take me safe at home, at last.

My journey's end is coming near,
The years have come and passed;
There's nothing now I have to fear,
I'll soon be safe at home, at last.

There's no place as safe as home,
Secure from all Satan's blast;
As I enter heaven's gates, no more to roam,
I'll shout, "I'm safe at home, at last!"
-Al Hughes, April 18, 2009

I can't believe I did this!

Last month in Arizona we saw Gordie & Bev Raatz, whom we met in 1967-68. Gordie is now in his 80's and this photo [on the left] is the only photo he had of himself as a child. It was in poor condition and well protected in their family album.

I scanned the photo and brought it home to attempt a restoration for them. Next week I will send them 3- 5x7 copies for them and their two daughters. In years past I have done some photo work for Alice's paper dolls, but nothing was this badly damaged. Do you think they will like it? I do!

Next I will make Bev a photo of her dad, from the only photo she has of him... in her wedding party! She will love a 5x7 to frame next to her mom's photo! Then I will begin to scrap their wedding album for their 57th anniversary gift in September.

[Digi-fun!]

Tombstone- the rest of the story

In March we visited Tombstone AZ, and we just had these photos developed this week. [Our camera battery died just as we got to town and we had to buy disposable cameras... whatever works, you know?]


We went to see the re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral (above) next to the site of the original fight. We heard the "other side" of the Hollywood story, from the "cowboys" viewpoint. Interesting rendition and well acted. We particularly enjoyed the Doc Holiday actor, who was a great mimic of the Val Kilmer version.

In the above photo, through the gates of the theatre, you can see the "body doubles" of the Earps and Cowboys at nearly the same place the shootout occurred.

Enjoyable outing! SO glad we went!

After the show, we were able to get photos with the actors. Preacher is shown above with Morgan and Virgil Earp. Below, Barb is with Ike Clanton, the only cowboy to survive the shootout. Doesn't he look good for his age? (Just kidding!)

As we waited to take our western photo, SEEN HERE we spied the actors wandering the streets and hijacked them for a photo op! Here Virgil & Morgan Earp and Doc Holiday posed with Barb. (Morgan was such a gentleman, taking my arm like so!)

Before we left, Preacher posed with a dead man on the main strip and we thought of the Ezekial account of "Dem bones" gonna live! (Ezek. 37)

The day was a wonderful western romp! The old town is so well preserved and historical! Try to go when you can! Its a treat for all ages!

Birthday BLESSINGS...

My birthday this year included a surprise ocean getaway! At Ocean Shores, we strolled the beaches, worked out in the hotel exercise room, swam in the pool and hot tub, and other tourist activities! I found 3 sand dollars and joked we were on our way to paying off our hotel bill!

We saw the remains of somebody's sand castle crumbling on the shore as the ocean reclaimed its territory.

We enjoyed a delightful birthday dinner, complete with snicker cheesecake and a candle for me, and carrot cake for him (of course!). While we ate, we watched the sunset and let me SHOW you what God did for my birthday blessing (scroll down!)

WOWWEEE...Can't God do good things for us? What a blessing!

Heads or Tails?

Sometimes we forget Sir Dewey and Princess Phoebe are pets, not people! This was a fun scrap page after a HUMOR CHALLENGE on Scrap Girls! [AMC Jake & Emma kit from Scrap Girls]

Tombstone... TIME TRAVEL

We had such a memorable time in Tombstone! It was one of the highlights of our trip to step back in time to the OLD WEST. The journaling reads:

We saw the re-enactment of the OK Corral shootout.
Took pictures with the actors protraying Doc Holiday,
Wyatt and Virgil Earp; had dinner at Big Nose Kates’ Saloon
Visited Boot Hill where the Cowboy victims of OK are buried.
Spectacular SUNSETS... What a time we had!

See it in the Scrapgirl gallery!

Bad Hombres... the HUGHES GANG

If you happen to cross paths with the Hughes gang, BEWARE!

We are HOME, Hallelujah!

Like this Cactus says, "Hallelujah!"

"I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 1 Tim 2:8
"Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD." Ps 134:2

We safely arrived home last night! Thank you to Bro Kyle and Bro Todd for collecting us at SeaTac! Everything was on time, but not without a bit of drama!

Thank you, Ethelyn, for loaning us your PT Cruiser. Thank you Bro Andy and church for a "home away from home" and to the Raatz for your great hospitality after the revival! It was SO GOOD to see you all again!

The next photo gives you an idea of the SIZE of this particular cactus! HUGE blessing... we found a few interesting cactus formations for another blog or scrap page! God has a sense of humor in His many creations!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Our first date was at a ballgame in Detroit!

As soon as we knew we would be in AZ during spring training for the Mariners, we checked the schedule and got tickets for a game in Peoria! This was BEFORE we knew Griffey would return to our team! Oh, to see "THE KID" again!

Griffey sightings for seven innings! We sat three rows behind their dugout and saw his awesome smile often.

SO GLAD he came "HOME" to Seattle again! Score 8-5 Mariners!! WOW! [We left the game early because the 95 - 100 degree temps were a bit too foreign to us... can't take it!]

Snakes, Gunfights, and Churches, oh MY!

Sign outside our motel

Al with a statue of Wyatt Earp

Stage coaches all over the place!

Al sitting in front of First Baptist Church of Tombstone... where the Earp boys went to Sunday School?

Doc Holliday from the Re-enactment play of the OK Corral... quite a good actor!

More pix later of the Tombstone trip, as our camera battery died so we had to purchase disposable cameras for the day. Will post them later in the week, if they are newsworthy. Today at the Raatz home and its HOT!

Heading down to Tombstone...

As we left Apache Junction and headed south to Tombstone Territory, we took the photo above of the palm tree... or is it? I was awed that they camouflaged the cell tower like that, LOL!
Down the road a bit, the next photo was taken across the road from our motel... the sign says "SNAKEHOLE Golf and Country Club". Somehow I am not interested, even IF I were a golfer. The entire course appears to be a "sand trap"... perhaps they use green traps here? Actually I have seen a few lovely GREEN courses too, but this one stood out as remarkable.
We got into Tombstone late afternoon, and after a quick rest, crossed the road to see BOOT HILL where the notorious folks of the old days were laid to rest, including gang members that died at the OK Corral.

Downtown Tombstone has been well preserved and we have made reservations to see the enactment of the shootout this afternoon. After eating at the local "saloon" restaurant (not gonna recommend it), we found most of the town had shut down for the night (except the nightlife).

So, we headed back to our room as the sun was setting in the west! AWESOME SUNSETS HERE!

Happy Birthday, Traci!

The WIRTZ family

Today is Traci's birthday and I was able to capture this family photo at her birthday fellowship last night. "Andy's girls" are (L to R) Marissa, Skyler, Kalli (standing behind) Regan (beside Traci). Such a sweet family! We enjoyed getting acquainted with them all!

Tortilla Flats, AZ

Yesterday we enjoyed lunch with Pastor Andy at Chili's (a RARE treat!), before taking a drive to see Tortilla Flats. We spotted these lovely cactus flowers at the motel before we headed out the winding road that Hwy 88 is!

Looking at the "foreign terrain", I was reminded of the old western "The Lone Ranger" and commented: "Hi Ho, Silver, and away!" Imagine my surprise to find the name of our destination was: the TONTO National Forest! At the roadside viewpoint, we caught a photo of a circling hawk overhead.



I was fascinated with the roadside "weeds" and took several shots of them with rock formations and cactus when there was space enough to stop the car on the road.



We "captured" a row of cacti as they formed a single line at the entrance to the old town, Tortilla Flats.

As we walked thru the old western town we passed some tourists sitting on the bench out front. One man commented on Al's South Kitsap Baseball T-shirt "South Kitsap!!! I'm from Port Townsend!" Small world!

We did not get any photos of the old west town, but surely enjoyed their fudge and ice cream before heading back down the winding road! It took 1 hr 15 min to drive the 15 miles down the winding mountain road, due to bicyclists blocking the way most of the trip. Awesome memories!

Today we head for Tombstone Territory for another western experience!

Mountain climbing...

Today, St Pat's Day, the two preachers climbed "Silly Mountain". As he left, we noticed he was wearing green... quite by accident. (Me, too, also by accident). This photo is halfway up and the other was taken at the top.

End of the trail, the TOP, with a view of Apache Junction behind him.
And at the top resting with Bro Andy Wirtz below.